British Pornography Traffic Falls After Identity Checks, But Virtual Private Network Usage Surges, Reports Regulator
Traffic to pornography sites in the UK has fallen significantly after the roll-out of mandatory age verification this summer, according to the nation's communications watchdog. Concurrently, the usage of specialist software designed to circumvent these blocks has surged.
Sharp Drop in Visitor Figures After Law Enforcement
The enforcement of age vetting on 25 July resulted in an immediate reduction in visits to major pornography sites, such as the most visited provider in the UK. Data indicates that visitor numbers to this site in August reached 9.8 million, a decrease of 1.5 million compared to the equivalent month in 2024.
Overall, visitor numbers to the ten most-visited pornography sites in the UK have now settled at a “lower level” than before the late July implementation date. Subsequent data shows this slump in site visits continued beyond August.
Surge in VPN Usage to Evade Restrictions
Reacting to the new rules, adoption of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)—which can get around location-based restrictions by masking connections through another nation—more than doubled after 25 July.
User numbers reached a high at over 1.4 million in mid-August, rising from approximately 650,000 people before the verification were introduced. Subsequently, the regulator stated that VPN usage has since fallen back, with latest numbers at approximately 900,000. It added that the level of regular VPN use is “much lower” than user numbers for pornography services.
Teenagers Responding to Damaging Online Content
Elsewhere, the watchdog's report found that about 60% of teenagers aged 11 to 17 had acted after seeing distressing content online. Actions included flagging the content to the platform to muting the person who shared it.
This research was carried out prior to new rules came into force that compel platforms to stop children from seeing dangerous content, including material related to self-harm and adult material. The most common way teenagers came across such content was by scrolling through a social media feed, indicating that algorithms were serving inappropriate material.
Government Launch Review of Adult Content Legislation
Separately, the government stated it would review the criminal law relating to pornography to assess whether it is “fit for purpose” in the modern digital age.
“The examination will look into the efficacy of the existing law in regarding criminalising, for example, harmful portrayals of familial abuse and any types of pornography which encourage child sexual abuse,” stated a justice minister.
Advocates Push For Stricter Online Regulations
Campaigners for better control of adult content have called on the government to ban so-called “barely legal” material. This includes content featuring incest scenes or that appears to promote child sexual abuse by using young-looking performers portraying children.
Proposed changes to government bills seek to:
- Ban pornography where performers are impersonating children, often filmed in settings like children’s bedrooms.
- Extend the offence of creating an exploitative portrayal of a child to cover material where an adult acts the part of a child.
- Introduce tighter regulation on incest-themed pornography, which studies suggests is often promoted by site systems.
- Introduce additional controls on “nudification” technology, potentially making it an illegal act to own software designed to create private images without permission.
- Create a new, separate regulatory body to conduct spot checks on adult platforms and respond to complaints of unlawful content.
The campaigners argue that these steps would ensure the safeguards that have existed for decades in the physical world finally apply to the digital age.
